Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Re: [CRYOLIST] Obituary for Robert Allen

Thank you for the information Bob.
I had the rare pleasure of meeting Bob Allen at USGS headquarters on several occasions while working on the George 1 Thurston Island Crew Repatriation with Jerry Mullins.  It took some time to realize that I was in the presence of a legend.  Bob was incredibly supportive of our repatriation mission there and proved to be an invaluable resize, often working on his own time to gather information for the mission (still ongoing www.fav.us).  Bob made the world a much better place because of his example and his outright contributions to science and the world community.  May the memory of Bob Allen continue to inspire us.
God Bless!  God Speed!
Lou Sapienza


On Jul 24, 2015, at 2:47 PM, Sebastián RP <sruizpp@gmail.com> wrote:

My condolences. 

Thanks for the thoughtful e-mail.

Sincerely,

Sebastián Ruiz.

2015-07-23 21:32 GMT-03:00 Bindschadler, Robert A. (GSFC-610.0)[EMERITUS] <robert.a.bindschadler@nasa.gov>:

Sadly, Bob Allen passed away earlier this month.  If you met him during your cryo-career you would not have forgotten him. Nor would he have forgotten you.  Bob had such an incredible memory and was an indispensible resource for those who visited the USGS SCAR Library.  No matter what your specific location of interest in Antarctica , Bob could tell you something about it you didn't know.  His inquisitive mind never stopped and it was always worth the time to listen to his stories.  With his passing, glaciology has lost a an exceedingly thick volume of unrecoverable information.

His official obituary follows:

ROBERT "BOB" J. ALLEN January 12, 1923 – July 10, 2015

Robert Allen was born in Martinsville, VA. After his father died, when Mr. Allen was but 6 years old, he was raised in the Pythian Home of New Market, VA. He graduated from New Market High School and continued his education at Ferrum Junior College. After graduation, he attended VPI for a year and a half. He then sought employment in Washington, DC with Dr. Fields in dermatology.

Mr. Allen was drafted into the military services (Army). He served during Korean Wartime. He trained in the engineering school, leadership training, cartography, marksmanship and artillery associated with paratrooper training. He was honorably discharged. Thereafter he sought employment with the federal government.

He began to work for the Department of Interior in the U.S. Geological Survey. He worked there for 60 years as a cartographer creating and verifying maps all over the globe, branching into Landsat, NASA and mapping of the moon, but his greatest specialty was Antarctica. His final posting was with the SCAR library in USGS Reston, VA. He was honored in the Congressional Record for his achievements and service to the many U.S. researchers and teams that studied Antarctica, particularly at McMurdo.

During his lifetime, Robert enjoyed many hobbies such as vegetable gardening, friendly card games with friends, photography, and bowling. An avid photographer, he had several film cameras, included one for producing stereo slides. He was a champion bowler on various teams in the duckpin leagues, and amassed many trophies and awards. His favored position was anchorman. He was a longtime member of the former Mount Rainer United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday school and supported the youth program as well as many other charitable activities

Mr. Allen was first married to Elizabeth Cox of Philadelphia. She predeceased him in 1980. He married a second time to Priscilla Butler of Reston. She also predeceased him in 2001. He is survived by his brother, Francis "Jack" Allen, two daughters, Olivia Heath and Frances Notley, a stepson Geoffrey Butler, four grandchildren, a step-grandson, and four great-grandchildren.

Robert Allen had survived several heart surgeries, bladder cancer and melanoma. In his advancing years he suffered increasingly from dementia and heart failure. A final heart attack exacerbated his condition until he passed away Friday in Maryland.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to remember Mr. Allen by donations to

Ferrum College, Ferrum VA.

http://www.ferrum.edu/giving_to_ferrum/index.html

 

ANTARCTICA PROJECT (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition)

http://www.asoc.org

 

Alzheimer's Association

http://www.alz.org/

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dr. Robert Bindschadler

NASA Emeritus Scientist

271 Gustavson Rd

Quilcene, WA 98376

USA                             Robert.A.Bindschadler@nasa.gov

360-775-5864 (cell)

 


_______________________________________________
You're subscribed to the CRYOLIST mailing list
To send a message to the list, email cryolist@cryolist.org
For posting guidelines, see http://cryolist.org/posting.html



--
•  •  •
Mais le temps suit son cours et sa pente inflexible 
A bientôt séparé ce qu'il avait uni, – 
Et l'homme, sous le fouet d'un pouvoir invisible, 
S'enfonce, triste et seul, dans l'espace infini. 
[F.I. Tyutchev]

•  •  •

_______________________________________________
You're subscribed to the CRYOLIST mailing list
To send a message to the list, email cryolist@cryolist.org
For posting guidelines, see http://cryolist.org/posting.html

Lou Sapienza
Executive Director/Board Secretary
Fallen American Veterans Foundation, Inc.          


"No Man Left Behind
" 
Honor the Promise 
 A 501c3 Non-Profit
 251 Park Street
 Rockport, ME 04856-5511
 +1 (207) 226-7300 | office
 +1 (646) 599-4476 | cell

[This communication is intended only for the addressed recipient(s) and should be considered privileged. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system and notify the sender. Thank you.]